Indigenous Research Resources
Indigenous research engages Indigenous persons as investigators or partners to produce knowledge or tackle issues that are of significance for Indigenous peoples and communities.
Historically, research on Indigenous communities has often been a violent process through which western academics have entered Indigenous communities and extracted knowledge for their own gain with little care or concern for the health, needs, or wants of Indigenous peoples (Chilisa, 2019, & Smith, 2010). Through these processes, Indigenous ways of knowing were also positioned as inferior to western forms of knowledge production (Smith, 2010). In response to this violence, ethical guidelines and Indigenous research methodologies have emerged as a means of asserting Indigenous rights, agency, and ways of knowing through the research process (Weber-Pillwax, 2001).
The Ānako Indigenous Research Institute encourages all those undertaking Indigenous research to familiarize themselves with the following responsibilities and ethical guidelines:
- Canadian Tri-Council Policy Statement 2, Chapter 9: Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada
- The First Nations Information Governance Centre’s Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession Report (OCAP)
- The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s National Inuit Strategy on Research
- Universities Canada’s Principles on Indigenous Education
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Research theory and methodology texts
Various recommended texts that can be found through MacOdrum Library include:
- Chilisa, Bagele (2019). Indigenous Research Methodologies. Sage Publications.
- Chilisa, B. (2020). Indigenous research methodologies (Second edition.). SAGE.
- Kovach, Margaret (2010). Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts. University of Toronto Press.
- Smith, Linda Tuhiwai (2013). Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Zed Books.
- Weber-Pillwax, Cora (1999). Indigenous Research Methodology: Exploratory Discussion of an Elusive Subject. Journal of Educational Thought, 33(1), 31-45.
- Wilson, Shawn (2001). What is an Indigenous Research Methodology? Canadian Journal of Native Education, 25(2), 175-179.
- Leal Filho, W., Mbah, M. F., & Ajaps, S. (Eds.). (2022). Indigenous methodologies, research and practices for sustainable development. Springer.
- Lambert, L. A. (2014). Research for indigenous survival : indigenous research methodologies in the behavioral sciences. Salish Kootenai College Press.
- Smith, L. T. (2021). Decolonizing methodologies : research and indigenous peoples (Third edition.). Zed Books. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350225282
- Sumida Huaman, E., & Martin, N. D. (Eds.). (2020). Indigenous knowledge systems and research methodologies : local solutions and global opportunities. Canadian Scholars.
- Windchief, S., & San Pedro, T. (Eds.). (2019). Applying indigenous research methods storying with peoples and communities. Routledge.
- Walter, M. (2016). Indigenous statistics : a Quantitative research methodology. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315426570
- Indigenous Research Methodologies in Sámi and Global Contexts (Vol. 11). (2021). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004463097
- Esgin, T., Hersh, D., Rowley, K., Gilroy, J., & Newton, R. U. (2019). Indigenous research methodologies: decolonizing the Australian sports sciences. Health Promotion International, 34(6), 1231–1240. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/day076
- Kovach, M., & Kovach, M. (2021). Indigenous methodologies : characteristics, conversations, and contexts (Second edition). University of Toronto Press.
- Absolon, K. E. (2022). Kaandossiwin : how we come to know : Indigenous re-search methodologies (2nd edition.). Fernwood Publishing.
- Evans, J., & Lee, E. (Eds.). (2021). Indigenous women’s voices : 20 years on from Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s decolonizing methodologies (First edition.). Zed Books. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350237506
- George, L., Tauri, J., & MacDonald, T. A. o T. L. (Eds.). (2020). Indigenous research ethics : claiming research sovereignty beyond deficit and the colonial legacy. Emerald Publishing.
- Andersen, C., & O’Brien, J. M. (2017). Sources and Methods in Indigenous Studies (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315528854
- Minthorn, R. S., & Shotton, H. J. (Eds.). (2018). Reclaiming Indigenous research in higher education. Rutgers University Press. https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813588728
- McGregor, D., Restoule, J.-P., & Johnston, R. (Eds.). (2018). Indigenous research : theories, practices, and relationships. Canadian Scholars.
- Aikau, H. K., Brown, M. A., Chang, D. A., Hall, L. K., Kahakalau, K., Meyer, M. A., Nu’uhiwa, K., Perkins, ’Umi, Vaughan, M. B., & ho’omanawanui, ku’ualoha. (2019). The past before us : Moʻokūʻauhau as methodology (N. Wilson-Hokowhitu, Ed.). University of Hawaii Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824878177
- Archibald, J.-A., Lee-Morgan, J., & De Santolo, J. (Eds.). (2019). Decolonizing research : indigenous storywork as methodology. ZED Books Ltd.
- Colliver, Y., & Lee-Hammond, L. (2017). Indigenous Methodologies in Education Research: Case Study of Children’s Play in Solomon Islands. In The SAGE Handbook of Outdoor Play and Learning (pp. 495–510).
- Braun, K. L., Browne, C. V., Ka’opua, L. S., Kim, B. J., & Mokuau, N. (2014). Research on indigenous elders: from positivistic to decolonizing methodologies. The Gerontologist, 54(1), 117–126. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnt067
- Ocampo, D. (2023). Where We Belong : Chemehuevi and Caxcan Preservation of Sacred Mountains /. The University of Arizona Press.
- McClean, M., & Waters, M. (2020). Indigenous epistemology : descent into the womb of decolonized research methodologies. Peter Lang.
- Sumida Huaman, E., & Martin, N. D. (Eds.). (2023). Indigenous research design : transnational perspectives in practice. Canadian Scholars.
- Garcia, J., Tenakhongva, S., & Honyouti, B. (2019). Indigenous Teachers: 103At the Cross-Roads of Applying Indigenous Research Methodologies. In Applying Indigenous Research Methods (1st ed., pp. 103–121). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315169811-7
- Wilson, S., Breen, A. V., & DuPré, L. (Eds.). (2019). Research and reconciliation : unsettling ways of knowing through indigenous relationships. Canadian Scholars.
- Groh, A. (2018). Research methods in Indigenous contexts. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72776-9
- Hess, J. B. (Ed.). (2021). Digital mapping and Indigenous America. Routledge.
- McGregor, D., Restoule, J.-P., & Johnston, R. (Eds.). (2018). Indigenous research : theories, practices, and relationships. Canadian Scholars.
Community and Online Resources
- Guidelines for Working with Elders & Knowledge Keepers (Centre for Indigenous Support and Community Engagement, Carleton University)
- Research with Indigenous Communities (Centre for Studies on Poverty & Social Citizenship, Carleton University)
- Doing Indigenous Research in a Good Way (Memorial University)
- Indigenous Research Resources (Lakehead University)
- When Research is Relational: Supporting the Research Practices of Indigenous Studies Scholars (ITHAKA S+R)
Campus Resources
School of Indigenous & Canadian Studies: Offers a broad range of interdisciplinary undergraduate & graduate courses.
Centre for Indigenous Support and Community Engagement: Supports First Nation, Métis and Inuit peoples who work and study at Carleton.
MacOdrum Library: The heart of Carleton as a place to access information but also as a space for our community to gather and learn.
Carleton Research: Research stories and news from the Office of the Vice-President of Research and International.
Carleton Office for Research Initiatives & Services: Supports for the Carleton research community including supporting and strengthening grant applications and facilitating services.
Migwetch, Niá:wen, Maarsii and thank you for your interest in conducting ethical and responsible Indigenous research!